Akrotiri
Peninsula
presents significant environmental importance and is characterised by diversity
at all levels: life forms (flora-fauna), habitats, geology, hydrology,
archaeology, history and civilisation.

The wetland
system of
Akrotiri
Salt
Lake
and Akrotiri Marsh was designated on
20 March 2003 as a wetland of international importance
under the Ramsar Convention. The whole of
Akrotiri
Peninsula
has been declared an Important Bird Area and is covered by many other
international environmental conventions. Twenty-seven natural habitats (22
terrestrial and 5 marine) have been recorded in the area under the Natura 2000
network study. These habitats, four of which are priority, comprise a variety
of characteristics and host a big diversity of life forms. It is a proposed
Natura 2000 site and it will be declared as protected very soon.

Two hundred and
sixty bird species have been recorded on the peninsula, representing 70% of the
total of 370 in
Cyprus.
Two hundred species are migratory and use the area as a staging post, for
wintering or breeding. Akrotiri beaches are one of the few nesting sites on
island for Green and Loggerhead turtles, which are endangered Mediterranean
species. Dozens of nests are identified every year and are protected until
hatching. Various species of mammals have been recorded in the area as well,
such as seals, dolphins and bats. Hundreds of insect species have been
identified, including 77 endemic ones, as well as 9 endemic species of snails.

The flora of the
area includes hundreds of plant species, many of which are rare or endemic,
such as the endemic orchid Ophrys
kotschyi, which is protected under the Bern Convention.

The hydrology
and geology of the peninsula is important and sensitive at the same time.
During the last decades, especially after the construction of Kourris River
Dam, the wetlands of the area have been seriously affected, with risks to its
significant features, such as damage to its habitats and coastal erosion.

The geological
history of the area presents exceptional interest. Thousands of years ago
Akrotiri used to be a separate island, eventually connected to the rest of
Cyprus
through river sedimentation and tectonic activity. Effectively, a double
tombolo has been created on the eastern and western sides enclosing the area of
the salt lake in the middle, which is 2.7 metres below sea level at its lowest
point.